New York City Cracks Down on Short-Term Rentals

Nearly two years ago, Budget Travel helped to focus national media attention on new legislation to regulate short-term rentals in New York state. In particular, New York City has aimed to crack down on "no-tels," residential apartments converted by owners into rent-by-the-day lodging for out-of-towners.

So, it's time for an update: How are travelers being affected? Or, as locals might put it: howsitgoineh?

The two goals of the law are to protect travelers from shady scam artists and to spare neighbors in any of these buildings from having to deal with the noise of fly-by-night guests.

One thing to note, though: No traveler visiting New York City has been fined—or harassed—by local authorities. The reason is simple: It's perfectly legal for a visitor to the city to stay in a vacation rental, say experts.

Short-term rentals are widespread in the city. Nearly every block of Manhattan has an owner renting out space to stay through the online booking engine AirBnB, as this map illustrates. That's just one site, with about 10,000 listings citywide. Three other respected sites are HomeAway, FlipKey, and Roomarama. All four companies say they will remove the listing of any landlord that is breaking local laws.

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